No. 20 Softball Blanks CMU, 7-0, at NCAA Tourney After Rain Delay – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 17, 2002
Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 20 Ohio State softball team, following a 12-hour rain delay, stepped back out on Alumni Field Friday and increased the 2-0 lead it had built the night before into a 7-0 win over No. 4 seed Central Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., in the opening round of the NCAA Region 6 tournament. Katie Chain (Jr., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) led the way for the Buckeye defense with a 12 strikeout performance while allowing four hits in six innings of work. Stacy Roth (Sr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) blasted her 15th home run of the year to build an early lead and joined Wendy Allen (So., Moreno Valley, Ohio/Moreno Valley) in knocking in four runs in the final two innings to secure the win.
“The delays were the biggest obstacle for both teams with the stoppage and starting of games, and then even playing through when conditions were not ideal was a challenge,” Linda Kalafatis, OSU head coach, said. “I thought we did a good job of handling (the delays), especially coming back this morning and winning. That was not easy to do. I am glad we had the two runs but yet it still gave the other team time to make adjustments. I thought we came out and swung the bat really well and picked really good pitches to hit against a really good pitcher.”
Chain opened the game with two strikeouts in each of the first four innings including four in a row that covered the final two outs in the third and the first two of the fourth. The Buckeyes’ Anna Smith (Sr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar) and Jennifer Link (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Sonora) each collected hits in the first but were stranded to keep the game scoreless. Smith, who finished the game with one hit, recorded her 102nd hit of the year to move into a 13th-place tie with three other players on the NCAA’s single-season record list.
After a quiet second for both squads, Chain allowed a double and a sacrifice bunt which moved the runner to third before she struck out the next batter. With an 0-2 count, the heavens opened and a four hour and 21 minute delay was called. After the break, Chain threw three more pitches and got Karly McCormack swinging at strike three. OSU came to the plate under the lights for the first time in Alumni Field history with Smith reaching on an error. After two outs were recorded and Smith standing on first, Roth crushed the Amber Puchalski offering over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead. CMU came to the plate in fourth and Chain got Jennifer Skuta looking at strike three before taking Sarah Hamilton to a 2-2 count. The rain fell again and forced the postponement of the game until Friday.
When play resumed, Chain recorded another strikeout and saw neither teams’ offenses produce until the Buckeyes came to bat in the fifth. Smith led off with a walk and Link singled through the left side for runners at first and second. Smith, her 40th, and Link, her 30th, stole the next base before taking another base on Allen’s sacrifice fly to center. With Link at third and holding a 3-0 lead, Roth put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to squeeze home Link for a 4-0 lead. CMU had three runners on in the sixth but could not get anything going as the OSU defense, barring an error in the inning, got the Buckeye hurler out of the jam and preserved the shutout.
In the OSU half of the sixth and facing reliever Auri Ault, Sarah West (Sr., Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) roped a one-out single to left. West took second when Rogeanna Hottinger (Jr., Newark, Ohio/Newark) walked on four pitches. Smith moved the runners with a sacrifice slap and Link loaded the bases with the seventh walk issued to OSU in the game. Allen lined a shot down the right field line to bring home West and Hottinger and move Link to third with one out and a 6-0 lead. Roth then hit a soft grounder to the pitcher and reached on an error while Link crossed home plate for the final score of 7-0.
OSU will face No. 2 seed Michigan at 4:30 p.m. Friday for a chance to compete in the winner’s bracket final.
